Mattis and Fallon meet to discuss shared British and American security interests

Date of publication: 11 07 2017, 14:36

US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis met with British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon at the Pentagon to discuss bilateral defence issues.

These issues included NATO, the campaign to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and the situations in Afghanistan and North Korea.

In a statement summarising the meeting, chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana W. White said Mattis lauded the value of the close security partnership between the United States and the United Kingdom.

“He thanked Secretary Fallon for his country’s sustained leadership in NATO as a framework nation for enhanced forward presence and close collaborator on modernisation efforts to strengthen the alliance” she said.

Mattis also expressed his appreciation to Fallon for the recent decision to add more troops in Afghanistan and for sharing views to inform the US national defence strategy, White said.

“The two leaders pledged to continue their dialogue on shared security interests and the US-UK bilateral defence agenda,” she added.